Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Few New TRU?? Fox Knocks For Noxon??

News for those still scratching their heads over Fox’s decision last season to cancel the wonderful “Wonderfalls” (after four episodes!) but renew its insipid “Tru Calling” for a second season:

“Tru Calling” has been pushed back to 2005, and may only produce six episodes for its second season, according to this story in Tuesday morning’s Variety. Longtime “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” writer Jane Espenson had just joined the skein this year as part of her new two-year deal at Fox Television. The same network, meanwhile, just ordered 12 episodes of “Point Pleasant,” a “Twin Peaks”-ish supernatural primetime soap created by former “Buffy” showrunner Marti Noxon.

To (mostly) recap, here’s where the former Buffiverse writers have landed: Jeff Bell (Joss Whedon’s co-writer on the spectacular “Angel” series finale) is now with “Alias.”

Liz Craft & Sarah Fain (they scripted Hamilton’s introduction in the five-star “Underneath”) have been asked to join “The Shield.”

Steve DeKnight (he co-scripted the hilarious Italy-set “The Girl in Question”) is headed to “Smallville.”

Ben Edlund (whose “Angel” work includes “Life of the Party” and “Time Bomb”), is aboard “Global Freqency.”

Jane Espenson (“Earshot,” “The Replacement,” “I Was Made To Love You”), who worked on both “The O.C.” and “Gilmore Girls” last year, joined “Tru Calling” as part of her two-year deal with Fox.

Brent Fletcher, who wrote an episode of “Angel” last season titled “Soul Purpose,” has joined the “Lost” staff.

David Fury (“Gone,” “Lies My Parents Told Me,” “You’re Welcome,” “Power Play”) has also signed aboard “Lost.”

Drew Goddard (DeKnight’s co-writer on “The Girl in Question”) now writes for “Alias.”

Drew Z. Greenberg (“Him,” “The Killer in Me,” “Empty Places”), who was scripting “Smallville” last season, had joined “The O.C.”

David Greenwalt left “Angel,” a show he co-created, after its third season to oversee ABC’s “Miracles” and UPN’s “Jake 2.O.” After both series quickly went belly-up, he briefly returned to “Angel” to direct its brilliant Italy-set antepenultimate episode, “The Girl In Question,” but hasn’t been heard from since.

Diego Gutierrez, who wrote the mental-institution episode of “Buffy” during its sixth season, has joined the “Global Frequency” staff. Rebecca Kirshner (“Help,” “Touched”), a "Freaks & Geeks" vet who was on “Las Vegas” last season, has joined “Gilmore Girls.” Tim Minear, who followed his wonderful “Angel” season-four finale with the wonderful “Wonderfalls,” is adapting a classic Robert Heinlein novel to the big screen.

Marti Noxon (“What’s My Line?” “The Wish,” “New Moon Rising”), who spent some time after “Buffy” developing “Still Life,” a Fox supernatural drama that never saw air, will oversee “Point Pleasant,” a 2005 supernatural drama Fox has ordered for a dozen episodes.

Doug Petrie ("As You Were," "End of Days"), who worked on both "Tru Calling" and an aborted "Lost in Space" series for the WB this season, is said to be taking the year off from TV next season to work on movie projects (Petrie, some will recall, wrote "Harriet the Spy" and drafted an early screenplay for "The Fantastic Four").

Mere Smith, who made her mark writing the Lightning Lass Gwen Raiden episodes during “Angel’s” fourth season, worked on “Tarzan” last season but has since moved on to “Jonny Zero,” a Fox midseason hourlong about an ex-con who fights crime.

Buffiverse mastermind Joss Whedon, who wrote more “Angel” teleplays last season than ever before, is in post-production on his big-screen “Firefly” movie, “Serenity” (and remains widely rumored to be the top candidate to write and direct the third “X-Men” movie).